Carpet-stretcher



(No Model.)

J. Y1E: BARNES CARPET STRETUHEB..

use for stretching a carpet preparatory to o perforations will coincideso that bolts or rivo gular sections of the plate cut loose and of thetool adapted to be alternately used as NrTnD STATES PATENT Fries.

JOHN E. BARNES, OF DES MOINES, IOWA.

CARPET-STRETCHER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 529,155, dated November13, 1894.

Application led February 6, 1894.

To all whom, t may concern.-

Be it known that I, JOHN E. BARNES, a citizen of the United States ofAmerica, residing at Des Moines, in the county of Polk and State ofIowa, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Apparatus forStretching and Nailing Fast Carpets, of which the following is aspecification.

.My invention relates to that class of devices in which a carpetgripping device is adapted to be pressed by a persons knee to retain itin engagement with a carpet and advanced on a iioor by means of a leveras required to stretch the carpet, and consists 1n an open-endedgripping device made of a sin gle piece of plate metal and a leveradapted for operating the gripping device and also adapted for drivingand pulling tacks, as hereinafter set forth, pointed out in my claim andillustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure l of thedrawings is an outline view of a sheet metal blank adapted for making mycarpet gripping device. Fig. 2 is a view a lever and a hammer in theoperation of stretching and fixing a carpet on a floor. Fig. 3 1s aperspective view showing my complete apparatus in position as requiredin practical tacking the edge thereof to the oor and in contact withthebase board of. a room in a building.

A represents aquadrangular piece of sheet metal, preferably springsteel, that may vary 1n size as desired. Two of its parallel edges areperforated so that when the piece is doubled at its central portion andthe perforated edges brought into overlying positions the ets can beinserted and the two edges securely fastened together therewith.

B and Bz show sections of the plate A partly cut loose and perforated insuch amanner that they can be readily bent toward each other and toproject at right angles from the plate and serve as perforated ears forconnecting the ends of a frame therewith.

l, 2, 3, 4, 5, represent series of small triantool,

Serial No. 4 99247. (No model.)

adapted to be bent into inclined positions relative to the surface'ofthe plate for the purpose of serving as teeth to bite and grip fast to acarpet. When the plate is doubled into position as shown in Fig. 3 andthe meeting edges fastened together, by means of rivets, or in anysuitable way, and the perforated ears B and B2 bent outward,l attach thehooked ends of a wire frame O to the said perforated ears to completethe carpet gripping device. t

D is a metal bar and the body portion of the tool adapted to be used as,a lever in combination with the frame O- and the carpet gripping devicefor stretching a carpet, and also adapted to be used for driving tacks.lt has a handle F at one end and terminates in a pointed extension H atits other end and has an integral hammer poll J projected at yrightangles from the same end portion.

K is an integral hook projecting from the body D at some distance fromthe hammer poll and in an opposite direction,rand L is a claw projectingover the end of the hook K and adapted for pulling tacks andfor aidingin retaining the hook in engagement with the frame C when in use forstretching a carpet.

By forming the hammer poll J near the pointed end H of the bar D and thehandle F at the other end of the bar the complete device can beadvantageouslyused for nailing a carpet fast as well as stretching it bytaking hold of the handle F to operate it for the various purposes forwhich it is adapted to facilitate the labor of stretching and fasteninga carpet ona floor.

In the practical use of my invention when a carpet is placed on a oorand one edge fastened and the other parallel edge near a wall, I placethe doubled plateAupon a section of the carpet and press its teeth intothe carpet and then connect the hook K of the tool with the closed endof the frame C and press the point'ofl the extension H into the floor atthe side of the base board and then press the free --end of the tooltoward the wall to thereby force the carpet gripping device and carpettoward the baseboard, and, before relaxing pressure upon the free endand handle of the I place my knee and weight upon the IOO carpetgripping device and retain it stationary until the lever or tool can bereadjusted to advance the device and stretch the carpet further, or thetool detached and used for driving tacks to fasten the carpet to thedoor.

It is obvious the complete apparatus can be readily moved about andalong the edge of a carpet and repeatedly used in the same Way forstretching and fastening a carpet from one corner of a room to anothercorner. It is also obvious that the plate A when doubled and its meetingedges joined together produces a hollow device that has some elasticityand that is well adapted in shape for placing a persons knee thereon topress upon it and hold it stationary While a stretched carpet under itis being tacked fast to the door.

To econoinize space in packing and shipframe C and place it in the pingI detach the open ended gripping device together with the metal bar ortool D.

I claim as my invention- An apparatus for stretching and fasteningcarpets, comprising an open ended sheet metal cushion and carpetgripping device made of a single piece of sheet metal having integralteeth on its under side and a bail or frame attached thereto forthepurposes stated, a lever having a handle at its top end and its lowerend pointed to engage the iioor, a hook and tack puller projecting fromthe lever to engage the said bail or frame, and a hammer poll near thepointed end of the lever, to operate in the manner set forth.

JOHN E. BARNES.

Witnesses:

J. RALPH ORWIG, THOMAS G. ORWIG.

